Instilling discipline is a difficult task and it is not uncommon to hear of frustrated caregivers and teachers who resort to tactics that are designed to humiliate, hurt, and instill fear of authority in a child. Some students may even be ridiculed by their peers as a result of methods employed by teachers to maintain order in the classroom. Though well-intentioned, these disciplinary measures:

• Erode self-confidence and self-esteem;
• Harm the interpersonal relationship between the child  and adults;
• Make it difficult for the child to trust the adult;
•  Teach children to get what they want through violence and bullying; and
• Create a negative learning experience, which may discourage the student from completing academic tasks or regularly attending school.

Camp Summer Plus (CSP) Academic Leaders had specific strategies they employed when students became unruly. When the entire class was misbehaving, these strategies included:

• Asking students to put their hands in the air, change hand directions to the side, twiddle their fingers, and then put their hands down. This tactic helped to quiet down a noisy class;
• Counting to three and letting the students know what is expected of them;
•  Letting students know that that points would be taken away as a result of bad behavior; and
•  Informing students that a consequence of their behaviour would be delaying a favoured activity.

When only a few students were being disruptive, each student was separated from the group and asked to:

• Stand in a corner; or 
• Sit in a seat isolated from classmates.

These disciplinary strategies worked for the CSP Academic Leaders, who managed their classrooms without instilling fear or using tactics that are disrespectful to the students. Correcting misbehaviour never involved sending a child outside the classroom, because that is where the learning takes place.